Gear Zone NLL Goalie Lids Showcase: Minnesota Swarm's Tyler Carlson

The IL Gear Zone continues its NLL Goalie Lids Showcase, bringing you another look at one of the masks belonging to yet another goaltender from the National Lacrosse League. We keep it going with a look at the one-of-a-kind lid worn by Minnesota Swarm rookie Tyler Carlson.

Carlson, who hails from Brampton, Ontario, and was signed this season as a free agent, had this undeniably entertaining mask created for his first season in the NLL. The lid was custom manufactured by Coveted Mask in Mississauga, and the paint is the fine handywork of Ron Stefeniak, an artist at Acme Art Company.

The mask features a Looney Tunes theme, with Sylvester the Cat on the left, Tweety Bird on the right, and the Tasmanian Devil as the center piece on the top, exploding out of a Minnesota Swarm logo. And you can see some honeycomb pattern along the edges, keeping with the Hive theme.

"Inspiration for the mask came when I was about 13 years old," says Tyler, who played his Junior A ball with the Brampton Excelsiors and then moved on to Brampton's Major Series club before joining the Ajax Rock.

"I was always wanting a custom-painted helmet growing up as a young goalie, but i was trying to figure out what to put on it. I was always a fan of Taz. I had him on all my masks. As I was growing up, I would tell my friends and relatives that I was a lacrosse goalie and that I liked it alot. After telling them what was involved in the position, most of their reactions were: 'You're looney for wanting to play that position!' And thats how it became. I have always loved Taz and it just worked out that he was part of the Looney Tunes. From then on, it stuck. I am the 'Looney Goalie.' For my 13th birthday, my parents got me my very first Taz, Tweety and Sylvester custom-painted helmet, which was also painted by Ron Stefaniuk of Acme Art Company."